2600+ or 2800+

[mkonjibhu]

Hey guys. I have yet anotehr question about amd's (ya, som many of them, sorry ). I can get a 2800+ with a pretty good mobo for $200 or a 2600+ for around $130. Is it more worth it to get the 2600 and get a good vid card (like a 9800 or 9600 pro), or get the 2800 and get a cheaper ccard or just stick with my horrible mx400 64mb. I want to get a good processor but also good gaming performance. Is there a big diff b/w 2800 and 2600 besides the 80 or so extre mhz and the extra 256 cache? Thanks

[JPMiller]

not for gaming...go with the 2600+ and stick other money into better card

[pinipig523]

actually go for the 2500 - overclock to 3000 or 3200 speeds, save the cash and hop onto a better videocard.

[dafanman]

mkonjibhu
Far as most bang for the buck, or what I like to call maximum value to price ratio, the 2500 is the ticket.

There are very few that have not been able to o/c this cpu quite easily.

Most are going straight to 11x200 with default voltage,effectively giving you a xp3200, some are getting higher.

Not a bad deal for a mid 80$processor.

If I didnt allready have this xp1700 that does 2.2ghz, I would be getting a 2500.

[mkonjibhu]

Im not really sure if im gonna go for an o/c'ed chip (and oc myself). Even if I would, the 2500 oc's better than the 2600? Im jsut saying without any mods, which would be an ideal choice. Im not looking for hte best comp, just a smooth running one. Thanks again.

P.S. - isee that the 2500 runs at 512l cache as opposed to the 2600's 256k. But it runs at around 200 mhz slower. Is that a big deal. Sorry, im just not to great at comp speeds - especially athlons - what would i do without techimo lol

[Juan Sanchez]

FYI you can get a Barton 2600+ if you want, it runs at 1.9 ghz and has 512k of cache. Normaly id say get the 2500 as it would easily oc to a 3200 w/o an increase in temp (mine did) and a little voltage, but I heard AMDs locking the Multiplyers so it's stuck of 11x, but it really wont effect peeps who want a 3200+ (just up the FSB to 200MHZ and BAM!! 3200+). If you really want a cheap and effective proccesor you can try your luck and get a Duron 1.6 and hope to get a B core, I heard they OC it to 2.5 ghz.

[Starfury_2260]

if you dont want to overclock go with the better processors otherwise go for the 2500+ or 2600+

[KiLLaJ17]

Originally posted by mkonjibhu
Im not really sure if im gonna go for an o/c'ed chip (and oc myself). Even if I would, the 2500 oc's better than the 2600? Im jsut saying without any mods, which would be an ideal choice. Im not looking for hte best comp, just a smooth running one. Thanks again.

P.S. - isee that the 2500 runs at 512l cache as opposed to the 2600's 256k. But it runs at around 200 mhz slower. Is that a big deal. Sorry, im just not to great at comp speeds - especially athlons - what would i do without techimo lol

I am also in the market for a new computer and you say to get the 2500+ and OC. what do you suggest as a good heatsink, memory and case to do the OCing???

[ArcticFox]

Well I'd certainly spring for an Asus A7N8X or equivilent nForce2 motherboard, put a 2500+ in their, and you can play with overclocking without unlocking your chip! I pushed my 2500+ and it's 333Mhz FSB to a 3200+ and a 400Mhz FSB with no core voltage increase and my temps are fine. Plus, no pencil or trace tape was needed to bridge any connectors.

Just my $.02.

[beppodmime]

You will definately do better to save a little money on the processor and go with a better video card. And, make sure you're going to be using a good motherboard (nForce2). Don't skimp in either of these areas if you plan on building a good gaming machine. Also, the differences between the 2600 and 2800+ are not that great, you'll get more performance spending the money in the video card.

And like Juan said, there is a Barton core 2600+ available, so you may want to pick one of those up instead of the older 2600+ T-bred. However, do keep in mind that the 2500+, which is a whole 70MHz slower, is also 14 dollars less than the 2600+ at newegg. Keep stuff like that in mind when you're deciding on a new chip. If I had to choose between the 2600+ and a cruddy MX graphics card, or the 2500 and a 9600, I'd go with the 2500+ and the 9600 video. And even if you don't want to overclock your chip, the 2500+ is still the best bang for your buck with AMD. And even if you don't feel like getting into overclocking right now, you may feel differently about it a year or so from now.